by Ian Craig

Created on: July 13, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

Coaches are most definitely a very important part of our sporting set up and always have been .In my own experiennce I have found that the character of the coach is the vital bonding element which sees the team through in many instances when the team is not really playing well or when your luck is out.
Some coaches can move team or location and transfer their owm blend almost immediately others never really capture their original success.

On the professional scene a couple of very different yet very successful managers come to mind. Sir Alex Ferguson the manager of Manchester United a very hard taskmaster indeed however he is the first to admit when his team are beaten by a better team on the day . He does recognise talent and undoubtedly promotes honesty and sportmanship. Jose Mourinho is not so differnt except he likes to have the limelight every now and again. The special one will not accept a below par performance . Both men are are professional using every ounce they can muster. I also find them very entertaining and as far as I am concerned you can never have too many characters in the world.
Sportmanship is still there . The best are steeped in it. Tiger Woods , Roger Federer never make excuses take sportmanship to another level . They learned this at a very young age . It is no mistake they are the best in their chosen field. Sportmanship is definitley taught by coaches ,the debate however is , is it applied/ adhered to at all times by all people ? and ofcourse the answer is no . This also transfers to life and life in general as people are different and will take the upper hand by foul means or fair .
In conclusion I would like to return to my own playing days . When I had a coach carved out of tradition . He had charatcter in abundance. He never played rugby my chosen sport to any real standard but yet his teams relly played with style. He had this uncanny ability to keep people together . People who from different backgrounds at initial glance would have very little in common . Robbie could see through this. He saw something we could not. He knew who he wanted and usually got them . Players enjoyed playing for hime and training sessions were ver full and enjoyable .
The maxim here was play hard , train hard but play fair . If you do this you will make many friends or contacts which you can take with you through your life. I can still go into any rugby club and even though time has moved on quite considerably I can apply my sportmanship learning traits and stories and have a willing audience willing to trade.
I do believe in the old statement get them young and it will be a seamless progression . Some have great talent ,some are moderate but sportmanship will give order and respect,

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